<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>in the song of the afternoon by fictionalinfinity</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27422836">in the song of the afternoon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalinfinity/pseuds/fictionalinfinity'>fictionalinfinity</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Song Lyrics, Temporary Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:02:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>785</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27422836</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalinfinity/pseuds/fictionalinfinity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ladybug remembers when their relationship had just begun. She remembers the thrill, the excitement, the jolts of electricity coursing through her at a simple exchange of words. She remembers the stolen moments in between battles, the chaste kisses before their timers ran out… It had been enough. </p><p>She thought it had been enough.</p><p>Looking down at the body in her arms, she knows...</p><p>It wasn’t enough. </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>October 2020 - Dark</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>in the song of the afternoon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwannacookie/gifts">iwannacookie</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi Cookie!!! &lt;333 Happy Birthday! I know the worst thing you could possibly receive is angst but... it's our songs? :pleading: Still, I hope you like it!</p><p>The song for this chapter is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-d29hw7m3k&amp;list=PLx7l9zMlX25FxsG1NPefJQgM-LgwEsZWr&amp;index=16">Afternoon.</a> Give it a listen! The angst abounds.</p><p>Special thank you to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoonSky">Silv</a> for betaing!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>A little talk could hold me for a little while</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ladybug remembers when their relationship had just begun. She remembers the thrill, the excitement, the jolts of electricity coursing through her at a simple exchange of words. She remembers the stolen moments in between battles, the chaste kisses before their timers ran out… It had been enough. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She thought it had been enough.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Looking down at the body in her arms, she knows...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t enough. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Another brush of whiskers and that distant smile</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Strands of Chat’s golden blond hair brush against her cheek, but she barely feels it. He smiles tiredly up at her, but she can tell he isn’t entirely there. He’s drifting further and further. She doesn’t know if she can catch up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So little life remaining and the shadows won't contain me</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ladybug can tell she’s losing him. She doesn’t know if she’s ever seen him so quiet. All she knows is she hates it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He is supposed to be loud and bright and shining and full of life. He is supposed to be moving and smiling and laughing and-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s too much. Her thoughts are moving too fast, his breathing is too shallow, and suddenly the shadows feel too small. Ladybug wants to scream at the unfairness of it all. It wasn’t supposed to be him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was never supposed to be him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The book of night is closing for the child</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>-</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>We fell down a hole</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Chat,” Ladybug chokes, her hands trembling as she struggles to hold her partner up. His eyelids slip open lazily, revealing his brilliant green eyes.  “Chat, it’s gonna be okay,” she promises. “It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ladybug?” Chat slurs, his brows furrowing in pain. “Wh-Where are you? It… it hurts.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don't you remember</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m here,” Ladybug whispers, brushing the hair away from his forehead. “I’ll fix this, I promise.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hot tears weave a trail down her cheeks, but she pays them no mind. All she knows is that her beloved chaton is hurting, </span>
  <em>
    <span>dying,</span>
  </em>
  <span> in her arms, and that the promises she makes are empty. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There are no lucky charms coming to save the day, no swarms of ladybugs to wash away the hurt. She’s already tried, but the akuma that did this is long gone. Not even Tikki’s magic can save them now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>We fell so far below</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It hurts,” Chat croaks again, grimacing. The pain on his face sends a lance through her heart.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” Ladybug sobs. “Chaton, I- I’m so, so, sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She presses one kiss to his face, and then another, and another, and another. She bites back a scream, and a choked gasp escapes her instead. Chat flinches at the sound. It sends another wave of suffocating sorrow over her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And never found the center</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love you,” she breathes the words like a prayer, hoping against hope that it will be enough to save him. It’s all she has left.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Another word or two</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ladybug,” Chat inhales slowly. His voice is all but a whisper, and he leans into her even more as his remaining strength seeps out of him with the blood. He exhales. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I…” Chat tries again, inhaling again. “I…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ladybug waits. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And waits. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And waits.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And all the summer knew</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t exhale again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In the song of the afternoon</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The silence takes a moment to sink in, but Ladybug refuses to accept it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In just a few moments, Chat is going to open his eyes. He’s going to smile and crack a joke. He’s going to tell her that everything is going to be okay. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s going to tell her how much he loves her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She just </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows</span>
  </em>
  <span> it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The heart will not remember what it will not name</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His body is all too stiff in her arms. Her hands, slick with his blood, have long since gone numb. But it’s okay, because Chat is fine. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chat is </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine, he’s-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The caterpillar gazes on a world of older faces</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That word rips through her, and then she’s screaming. She tears the earrings out of her ears and throws them across the room, unwilling to bear the weight of their failure. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She should’ve been able to save him. He’s gone, and it’s all her fault. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But the butterflies go floating all the same</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sound of fluttering wings echoes loudly against her ears, and Marinette knows exactly what it means. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>We fell down a hole</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t care.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don't you remember</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Releasing one last shaky breath, she allows the darkness to overwhelm her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And who knew what to do</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With all I felt for you</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In the song of the afternoon</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Once again, happy birthday Cookie!</p><p>Thank you to the <a href="https://discord.gg/mlfanworks">Miraculous Fanworks Server</a> for their endless encouragement and love of Miraculous! </p><p>Another big thank you to the <a href="https://discord.gg/GtE7UvS">Beef Server!</a>  Your screaming about this angst helped keep me motivated.</p><p>If you want to join either of these servers, click on the link! We'd be happy to have you</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>